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What are you reading right now? Why?

"Do you swear to love me forever and ever?"
"You wouldn't lie to me Punpun, would you? If you lie to me I am going to kill you."

Oyasumi Punpun. "Goodnight Punpun"

I was taken on a journey of life. The life of Punpun, Aiko and people who surround them. Inio Asano, the author, makes great effort to establish all of the characters. Everyone has their own unique personalities and attitudes all stemming from personal philosophy and circumstances. For that is how it really is, for this is a work about life.

Punpun, whose family and himself are drawn as some sort of bird, is an impressionable young boy. His naivete is touching. "Maybe if I get famous Aiko will like me too?". Adorable, as his simple dreams. We are taken through Punpun's life from young elementary student to the adult life of his early twenties. As the time passed I saw him grow and change, but the past would never let go.

Both Punpun and Aiko have grown under very difficult circumstances. Aiko's mother had gone crazy after joining a cult and Punpun's family divorced after a case of domestic abuse. Dysfunctional families raise broken children. But that is not everything, they are victims of the circumstances as much as of their own choices. Herein lays the beauty of it all - everything matters. The same goes for the manga itself: there is not a line or panel that is unnecessary.

The characters are not likeable in themselves, they are simply too complex for such black and white paint. One has to make their own opinion about them but I for one did not hate anyone.

I have to note how beautiful the art is. Every background and character feels like they were drawn straight from real life. An important artistic choice for a drama like this.

Oyasumi Punpun is a mature work by all means. I often get disappointed in anime and other works that deliberately exclude sex. This is wrong for very simple reason - sex is a part of life. Oyasumi Punpun is about life. None of the scenes ever come as a fanservice nor do they feel tackled on. Most of them are quite disturbing if anything and often very significant to the lives of the characters.

"Your reap what you sow."

One of the prevailing themes of the Oyasumi Punpun. But what if you messed up big? Do you still deserve happiness? This question is expanded greatly with Punpun's family. Do his parents' deserve even after being such a bad family? Questions like these are left open for the reader.

As you may have guessed - not a happy story exactly.

You see, even after all the time that has passed, Punpun and Aiko are both broken. It may be hard to say who of them was worse off but try as they might to break free they can't help it but hurt each other even more. The past affects and corrupts everything, even their love. Here is the real tragedy - the abused abuse and hurt without realizing. A circle that is very difficult to break. Looking back now I can see the evidence of this from the very beginning. What kind of grade schooler would demand eternal love and sincerity and then threaten to kill for a lie. As Aiko seeked those thing from such early age is illustrative, but also very influential on the young mind of Punpun. As the time passes they involuntarily pin their hopes on each other, seeking any change more than anything. They love each other, but they are still broken, even more so than in their early days.

All the cynism is crushing at times. For the first time in all my watching/reading time I was left numb after I finished a work. I was desperately trying to comprehend the implications of it all. It was one of those feeling when you finish something amazing you look around only to find out... nothing changed. "How can people simply carry on carelessly at this moment?" you ask yourself. It may frustrate or anger you but in the end, you have no choice but to accept that life goes on.


Art.


Oyasumi Punpun only ended about two month ago. I hope this review will entice some of you to read this work. A word of advice and caution though. Do not read this if you are in an emotionally vulnerable state and also, do not google any pictures as there are spoilers from later chapters everywhere. It was best that I knew almost nothing about it when I gave it a try.